Europa Universalis IV, the global game of trade, will be getting a massive expansion titled Wealth of Nations. We got a chance to speak with lead developer, Thomas Johansson, to get a little more insight on what players can expect out of the expansion.

First and foremost, EU4 veterans don't have to worry about the game's trade system that's already in place, as it's remaining untouched, however trading is going to be the sole focus of the Wealth of Nations expansion, albeit through conflict. One way the expansion will do this is by introducing Privateers. These fleets can be sent on privateering missions to sabotage a larger nation's trade, before you can overtake them. The double edged sword of privateers is that they keep the money from these missions all to themselves, however they multiply the trade power out of the mission.

The expansion is also adding the East India Trading companies, which will allow you to assign various strategic trade control points to them. They'll still be your provinces and will come with decreased tax and man power, but the trade off is that you'll once again get a multiplier on trade power.

When comparing the previous expansion, Conquest of Paradise, to the upcoming Wealth of Nations, Johansson stated that Conquest had a few really big changes, while Wealth will have a long list of medium sized changes.

Johansson also revealed that some additions which are "features that are essential to the game" will be added to the game completely free in an upcoming patch. One of the free additions include the Great Power system, which will help create conflict and have nations conflict with each other that are on the same tier, and not just have bigger nations go after the smaller ones.

The team is currently working on a big update to Conquest of Paradise, which means playtesting for Wealth of Nations will start sometime after that. Europa Universalis IV: Wealth of Nations is currently scheduled for Q2 release this year.